Leading with Green Ethics: How Environmentally Specific Ethical Leadership Enhances Employee Job Performance Through Communication and Engagement

Abstract

This study investigates how environmentally specific ethical leadership (ESEL) enhances employee job performance in public healthcare organizations by examining the sequential mediating roles of communication competence and work engagement. Grounded in Social Learning Theory and the Job Demands–Resources (JD–R) model, this study further explores the moderating effect of emotional regulation in this green leadership–performance linkage. Data were collected from 384 healthcare professionals, including physicians, nurses, and administrative staff, in public hospitals across Jordan using a cross-sectional survey design. Structural equation modeling (SEM) via SmartPLS was employed to test the hypothesized relationships. The results reveal that ESEL significantly improves job performance by fostering environmentally responsible communication and enhancing employee engagement. Specifically, the findings support a sequential mediation process: ESEL cultivates communication competence, which promotes work engagement, ultimately leading to higher performance. Furthermore, emotional regulation strengthens these relationships, suggesting that employees with greater self-regulatory capacity respond more positively to green ethical leadership. This study extends the literature on sustainable human resource management by uncovering how ESEL fosters pro-environmental behavior and high performance in ethically sensitive contexts such as healthcare. In practical terms, the findings emphasize the need for healthcare organizations to embed sustainability-focused communication and emotional regulation skills into leadership training to support green transition goals.

1. Introduction

In recent years, environmentally specific ethical leadership (ESEL) has gained increasing attention as a strategic lever to foster both ethical conduct and sustainability-oriented behavior within organizations [1]. ESEL extends traditional ethical leadership by embedding environmental values, such as accountability for ecological impact, resource responsibility, and advocacy for sustainable practices, into daily leadership behavior [2,3]. In sectors like healthcare, where ethical standards and public trust are paramount, the integration of green ethics into leadership is particularly consequential [4,5]. Leaders’ environmental integrity not only enhances the ethical climate but also sets the tone for employee behavior, commitment, and performance [6].

The green transition in public services demands more than technical innovation; it calls for leadership models that motivate employees toward sustainable action [7,8]. ESEL, defined by fairness, transparency, and a deep concern for both people and the planet, has the potential to inspire employees to communicate more responsibly, engage more deeply, and perform more effectively [2]. In healthcare, this style of leadership may bridge the gap between ethical excellence and environmental responsibility, reinforcing a culture of care that supports both patients and the planet.

Despite the recognized importance of ethical leadership, few empirical studies have examined how environmentally specific ethics within leadership influence employee outcomes in high-stakes, resource-intensive environments such as healthcare. While prior research has confirmed the positive effects of ethical leadership on various outcomes, limited work has addressed the mechanisms through which ESEL contributes to performance [9]. Specifically, communication competence—the ability to send, receive, and interpret messages effectively—and work engagement, which reflects vigor, dedication, and absorption in one’s work, remain underexplored as green leadership pathways [10,11].

In addition, emotional regulation—the capacity to manage one’s emotional responses—is essential in ethically and emotionally complex workplaces like hospitals [12,13]. Leaders who demonstrate emotional control and resilience reinforce professional behavior, especially under pressure [14]. However, little is known about how employees’ own emotional regulation capabilities moderate the effect of ESEL on critical performance outcomes.

The current study focuses on public hospitals in Jordan, a country facing mounting environmental and institutional pressures in the healthcare sector. Jordanian public hospitals grapple with chronic resource constraints, rising operational costs, and an urgent need for sustainable healthcare delivery models [4]. These challenges are compounded by limited managerial training in green leadership practices and inconsistent adoption of sustainability principles [15]. As healthcare sustainability becomes imperative—not only for environmental outcomes but also for patient safety and service quality—understanding how ESEL can foster better employee outcomes in such contexts becomes increasingly relevant.

Moreover, sustainability in healthcare extends beyond environmental responsibility to encompass patient well-being, employee performance, and organizational resilience [16,17,18]. In Jordan, the integration of managerial competencies with sustainability practices is still evolving, creating an ideal setting to explore how green-oriented leadership behaviors may improve employee-level outcomes such as communication, engagement, and job performance [19]. This study thus contributes to the growing literature on leadership and sustainability in underexplored healthcare systems.

This study addresses these gaps by proposing a sustainability-informed sequential mediation model in which communication competence and work engagement jointly mediate the relationship between ESEL and employee job performance. It also explores emotional regulation as a boundary condition that may strengthen or weaken these pathways. By doing so, this research contributes to a more nuanced understanding of how ethical and environmentally responsible leadership can shape workplace behavior in the healthcare sector, a domain increasingly challenged by climate-related demands, resource constraints, and sustainability goals.

This study offers several key contributions. Theoretically, it expands the ethical and sustainable leadership literature by clarifying how and when green ethics in leadership translate into higher employee performance. It integrates underexplored behavioral constructs—communication competence, work engagement, and emotional regulation—into a unified sustainability-oriented model. Practically, the findings offer healthcare organizations actionable insights into promoting green leadership by embedding environmental responsibility and emotional resilience into managerial training and HR practices. Ultimately, this study advances the conversation on sustainable human resource management (SHRM) by showing how green leadership can drive both employee well-being and environmental performance.

The remainder of this paper is structured as follows: Section 2 presents the theoretical framework and hypotheses development, integrating Social Learning Theory and the Job Demands–Resources model. Section 3 outlines the research methodology, including sampling, data collection, and measures. Section 4 reports the empirical results using PLS-SEM analysis. Finally, Section 5 discusses key findings, theoretical and practical implications, and directions for future research. To enhance clarity and provide a comprehensive overview of the study’s design, a flowchart summarizing the research process, including the conceptual model, data collection strategy, and analytical steps, is presented in Figure 1 below.

2. Theoretical Framework and Hypotheses Development

2.1. Theoretical Foundation

To elucidate the mechanisms by which ESEL enhances employee job performance, this study draws upon two complementary theoretical perspectives: Social Learning Theory (SLT) and the Job Demands–Resources (JD–R) model [20,21]. Social Learning Theory posits that individuals acquire behaviors, attitudes, and values by observing credible role models [22,23]. In the workplace, leaders who model green ethics, including fairness, transparency, and responsibility for environmental well-being, encourage employees to emulate these behaviors, reinforcing pro-environmental values and ethical standards in daily work practices [24,25]. Through observational learning, ESEL not only strengthens employees’ commitment to sustainable conduct but also enhances their communication competence and work engagement, two key drivers of performance [11].

In healthcare contexts, where ethical dilemmas and environmental pressures often coexist, ESEL acts as a moral and sustainability compass, guiding employees toward behaviors that benefit both organizational outcomes and broader social–ecological goals. Leaders who communicate their environmental concerns and ethical values transparently establish a communicative norm that employees internalize and replicate [26]. As a result, ESEL cultivates communication competence, which is the ability to convey, interpret, and respond effectively to messages in ethically sensitive and sustainability-challenged environments. Similarly, ESEL fosters work engagement, a motivational state characterized by vigor, dedication, and absorption, by creating a climate of ethical clarity, ecological purpose, and psychological safety [27,28]. This is especially important in healthcare organizations undergoing green transition, where the convergence of patient safety, regulatory compliance, and sustainability goals demands clear communication and high engagement [29]. ESEL helps bridge these institutional expectations by fostering a workplace culture where employees understand and internalize their roles as both ethical practitioners and environmental stewards [26].

Moreover, emotional regulation, defined as the capacity to manage and respond to emotional experiences [30], may moderate these processes. In demanding organizational settings like healthcare, employees frequently face emotional strain linked to ethical decisions and environmental stressors. Those with higher emotional regulation are better able to interpret and act upon green ethical cues from leadership, manage workplace stress, and transform ESEL’s guidance into meaningful engagement and performance [31]. In sustainability-driven work environments, emotional regulation becomes a vital employee resource, buffering the tension between fast-paced decision-making and green responsibility [32]. This emotional capacity may thus determine how effectively employees convert green leadership messages into sustained behavioral outcomes, particularly when confronted with competing priorities such as efficiency and compliance [33].

To complement the behavioral lens of SLT, the JD–R model provides a motivational framework that explains how contextual and personal resources interact to influence job outcomes [34,35]. Within this framework, communication competence and work engagement are job resources that help employees cope with challenges while fostering productivity and sustainability [36]. ESEL acts as a contextual job resource, promoting these capacities by offering clarity, support, and a shared sense of environmental responsibility. Emotional regulation, as a personal resource, further amplifies these effects by enhancing adaptive coping and intrinsic motivation [37]. By positioning ESEL within the JD–R model, this study not only highlights leadership as a green workplace resource but also aligns with sustainable HRM practices that emphasize psychological well-being, skill development, and value-based alignment. In healthcare, such alignment is increasingly seen as essential for delivering high-quality care while advancing environmental responsibility [38].

Together, SLT and the JD–R model offer a robust theoretical foundation for this study. SLT explains how green ethical leadership behaviors are modeled and adopted, while JD–R elucidates how these behaviors stimulate psychological resources and performance, particularly under varying levels of emotional regulation. This integrative approach supports the investigation of both sequential mediating mechanisms—communication competence and work engagement—and the moderating role of emotional regulation in translating ESEL into improved employee job performance [39,40]. This dual-theoretical lens also provides a relevant scaffold for understanding how sustainable leadership can be embedded into human resource systems in healthcare settings, offering a pathway for organizations to link leadership, employee well-being, and environmental performance. By grounding the study in these frameworks, the research offers a theoretically rigorous and sustainability-relevant model of leadership behavior, suitable for navigating complex environments such as healthcare.

Furthermore, to situate this theoretical framework in a broader comparative context, a synthetic overview of public healthcare systems in Jordan, Turkey, and a representative EU country (Spain) is provided below (see

Table 1. Comparative overview of healthcare indicators (2024).

Indicator	Jordan	Turkey	Spain
GDP per capita (USD)	4255	12,540	32,102
Health expenditure (% of GDP)	6.4%	4.3%	9.1%
Public healthcare coverage	64.3%	90%	99%
Doctors per 100,000 population	317	213	400
Hospital beds per 1000 population	1.45	2.9	2.8
Life expectancy (M/F)	77/78.8	76.6/81.1	80.5/85.4
Health system type	Mixed (MOH, RMS, private)	Universal (SGK-based)	Universal (public-funded)

Sources(s): World Health Organization [41], World Bank [42].

). This comparative lens helps clarify why the Jordanian healthcare context is an ideal setting to explore the dynamics of ESEL.

This comparative perspective illustrates that while Jordan’s health system is relatively advanced regionally, it remains under greater demographic and financial strain than its counterparts. The country’s unique healthcare structure, high refugee density, and resource constraints provide fertile ground for examining how green ethical leadership practices may support employee outcomes amidst organizational complexity.

2.2. Environmentally Specific Ethical Leadership in Healthcare: Advancing Sustainable Development Goals

ESEL plays a critical role in shaping both ethical conduct and environmental responsibility within healthcare organizations, where professionals face not only moral dilemmas and high-pressure decisions but also growing expectations for sustainable practices. Rooted in broader ethical leadership theory, ESEL is defined as a leadership style that combines fairness, honesty, and compassion with an explicit concern for environmental sustainability [1,3,22,43]. In healthcare, where human well-being is closely intertwined with environmental health, ESEL represents a dual commitment to ethical care delivery and sustainable institutional practices.

Leaders who embody green ethical values reinforce a climate of integrity, psychological safety, and environmental consciousness. This is especially vital in hospital environments, where ethical sensitivity, collaborative communication, and environmental responsibility intersect to influence both staff well-being and patient outcomes [4,44]. By modeling ethical behaviors that include environmental stewardship, such as waste reduction, energy mindfulness, and eco-conscious decision-making, ESEL not only supports regulatory compliance but also encourages employees to align their work behaviors with broader sustainability goals [45,46]. This alignment directly supports several United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), including SDG 3 (Good Health and Well-Being), SDG 12 (Responsible Consumption and Production), and SDG 13 (Climate Action), all of which are increasingly embedded into healthcare governance frameworks [47].

Empirical research has demonstrated that ethical leadership positively influences employee engagement, satisfaction, and performance through its impact on moral identity, procedural justice, and value congruence [48,49]. When these ethical principles are extended to include environmental concern, employees are more likely to view their work as meaningful and aligned with the social good. This environmentally anchored ethical climate can boost job performance by increasing communication openness and fostering a stronger sense of purpose among healthcare professionals [27]. Furthermore, when ESEL is viewed through the lens of global sustainable development efforts, it reflects not only organizational virtue but also a strategic contribution to national SDG implementation, especially in developing countries such as Jordan, where public hospitals play a central role in achieving these goals [50].

Moreover, ESEL fosters communication competence and work engagement by establishing transparent, inclusive, and sustainability-oriented communication norms. These processes help mitigate emotional exhaustion and role ambiguity in healthcare, where employees are often required to balance patient care, ethical concerns, and sustainability initiatives [1,26]. Leaders who consistently demonstrate green ethical conduct by linking environmental priorities with daily decision-making serve as role models whose influence cascades across the organization, reinforcing a sustainability-oriented ethical culture [51,52]. As such, ESEL contributes not only to internal organizational ethics but also to external institutional legitimacy in global SDG accountability frameworks, reflecting elements of SDG 16 (Peace, Justice, and Strong Institutions).

In an era marked by planetary health crises, geopolitical instability, and increasing public scrutiny, ethical leadership that integrates environmental considerations into daily practices has become essential [50,53]. The global pursuit of SDGs further necessitates healthcare organizations to internalize ethical standards not only at the individual or team level but also institutionally [20]. For instance, ethical leadership embedded in environmental stewardship in Jordanian hospitals may differ in practice from European or U.S. healthcare settings, but the underlying principles of transparency, social accountability, and ecological respect remain universally critical [54,55]. Comparative perspectives could highlight how public hospitals in Jordan, Turkey, and Scandinavian countries engage with SDGs through ethical governance, despite contextual differences in policy scope and resource availability [56].

Current global disruptions, such as military conflicts in the Middle East and Eastern Europe, have further strained SDG progress by diverting resources, intensifying health inequities, and increasing ecological degradation [57]. Against this backdrop, ESEL can be a stabilizing force, ensuring that ethical and sustainable practices remain embedded in healthcare operations despite volatility [50,58]. For example, ethical leaders in service sectors can champion SDG-aligned initiatives such as climate-conscious procurement, sustainable waste management, and community environmental education—even under resource constraints [59].

In sum, ESEL is not only a moral imperative in the healthcare sector but also a strategic lever for driving employee performance and sustainability. By integrating green values into ethical leadership, healthcare organizations can promote high-performing, environmentally conscious, and value-driven care systems—aligning with global goals for sustainable development and workplace transformation. This perspective extends ethical leadership beyond its traditional organizational function and positions it as a mechanism for advancing the 2030 Agenda across national and institutional boundaries.

2.3. Environmentally Specific Ethical Leadership and Employee Job Performance

ESEL has emerged as a pivotal factor in shaping employee behavior and enhancing job performance, particularly within value-driven and high-stakes environments like healthcare. Drawing on Social Learning Theory [60], ESEL leaders act as moral and environmental exemplars, with their behaviors marked by fairness, integrity, concern for others, and commitment to ecological sustainability. These leadership behaviors are observed, internalized, and emulated by employees, thereby fostering a dual emphasis on ethical conduct and environmental consciousness within the workplace [39]. Social Learning Theory further suggests that employees do not merely mimic leadership behavior but also engage in cognitive and motivational processes that interpret and transform these values into consistent, high-level performance [61].

When leaders consistently model green ethical behavior, such as responsible resource use, sustainability-focused communication, and eco-conscious decision-making, employees are more likely to align with both ethical and environmental standards in their daily tasks [62]. This alignment enhances motivation, reinforces workplace norms around sustainability, and promotes performance outcomes that serve both organizational and ecological goals. In healthcare, where moral and environmental imperatives intersect, ESEL is especially impactful in shaping how staff approach their roles with responsibility, purpose, and accountability [4,5].

Empirical evidence supports this view. For instance, Alkhadra et al. [63] demonstrated that ethical leadership fosters fairness and a culture of accountability, which are essential for organizational performance. Leaders who visibly practice environmental and ethical integrity also enhance employees’ sense of psychological safety and moral engagement [64,65]. Moreover, this sense of ethical purpose strengthens emotional attachment to the organization, thereby boosting task performance, discretionary effort, and ethical decision-making in healthcare settings [66,67,68].

By incorporating green values into ethical leadership, ESEL not only reinforces normative conduct but also delivers tangible improvements in employee job performance. This occurs through the development of trust, ecological awareness, and shared responsibility, which are foundational to both employee excellence and sustainable organizational practices. Based on this rationale, the hypothesis is as follows:

H1. 

Environmentally specific ethical leadership is positively related to employee job performance.

2.4. The Mediating Role of Communication Competence

Communication competence—the ability to communicate effectively and appropriately across various interpersonal and organizational contexts—is essential for fostering trust, collaboration, and ethical behavior within workplaces [30]. It is typically conceptualized across three dimensions: cognitive (knowledge of appropriate communication strategies), affective (motivation to communicate), and behavioral (actual skill in communication delivery) [69]. In healthcare organizations, where timely, accurate, and empathetic communication is critical to both patient care and interdisciplinary coordination, communication competence becomes an indispensable capability [70].

ESEL plays a vital role in developing this competence by modeling respectful, transparent, and sustainability-oriented communication. Leaders who consistently integrate environmental values into their ethical conduct set clear examples of how to discuss sustainability issues, resolve eco-related conflicts, and convey the importance of green behaviors in day-to-day operations [71]. Drawing on Social Learning Theory, employees observe and internalize these communication patterns, which shape how they express environmental concerns, collaborate around green initiatives, and align with both ethical and ecological workplace norms [23,60].

Within this framework, communication competence functions as a behavioral pathway through which ESEL influences employee job performance. By fostering open dialogue, mutual respect, and clarity around both ethical and sustainability goals, ESEL enhances employees’ communication effectiveness in green transition efforts. Employees with higher communication competence are better equipped to share sustainability knowledge, coordinate eco-conscious activities, and build trust-based interactions, ultimately contributing to improved job performance in healthcare contexts [72]. Furthermore, such competence reinforces organizational identification and psychological well-being, encouraging employees to act in ways that benefit both people and the planet [9,73]. Accordingly, we propose the following hypothesis:

H2. 

Communication competence mediates the relationship between environmentally specific ethical leadership and employee job performance.

2.5. The Mediating Role of Work Engagement

Work engagement represents a persistent, positive, work-related psychological state characterized by vigor, dedication, and absorption [74]. It reflects an employee’s physical energy, cognitive focus, and emotional involvement in their work tasks [40]. According to the Job Demands–Resources (JD–R) model, work engagement emerges when job and personal resources enable employees to manage demands, pursue meaningful goals, and experience psychological fulfillment [75].

In the context of green transitions, work engagement also reflects employees’ emotional and cognitive alignment with sustainability values, particularly when these values are embedded in leadership behaviors [76]. ESEL functions as a job resource that not only promotes fairness and trust but also instills a shared environmental vision and ethical accountability [4]. Leaders who model environmentally responsible conduct and consistently communicate the importance of ecological integrity create psychologically safe, ethically grounded, and purpose-driven work environments that inspire employees to invest themselves more fully in their roles [77].

Such leadership cultivates intrinsic motivation by framing environmental responsibility as part of meaningful work, increasing employees’ identification with both organizational and sustainability goals [78]. Employees who perceive their leaders as ethical and environmentally committed are more likely to exhibit enthusiasm, dedication, and resilience—qualities essential for navigating the complexity and emotional intensity of healthcare work, especially when tied to sustainable practices [79,80,81].

Furthermore, work engagement operates as a motivational bridge through which ESEL enhances job performance. By fostering emotional and cognitive immersion in sustainability-oriented tasks, ESEL indirectly boosts employee performance outcomes, making engagement a central psychological mechanism in this relationship. Thus, we hypothesize the following:

H3. 

Work engagement mediates the relationship between environmentally specific ethical leadership and employee job performance.

2.6. Sequential Mediation of Communication Competence and Work Engagement

ESEL fosters an organizational climate where employees are treated with fairness, integrity, and ecological responsibility, conditions that promote both effective interpersonal communication and meaningful psychological engagement. ESEL is characterized not only by moral integrity but also by a clear commitment to environmental values, transparency in decision-making, and the ethical treatment of both people and the planet [1]. Such leaders serve as role models who communicate sustainability goals clearly and motivate employees to contribute to the organization’s ethical and environmental mission [66]. These leadership behaviors elevate employees’ sense of purpose, prompting them to respond with improved communication and increased engagement.

Within this process, communication competence—the ability to exchange messages effectively and appropriately across contexts—functions as a key foundational skill [82,83,84]. It enables employees to interpret sustainability-related leadership cues, resolve environmental or ethical dilemmas, and collaborate in ways that support green organizational goals [85]. This competence is especially vital in healthcare settings, where ethical complexity, emotional intensity, and interprofessional collaboration are common [70,86]. Through modeling and reinforcement, ESEL supports the development of communication competence by demonstrating how to express values-driven messages with empathy and clarity.

This process aligns with Social Learning Theory [23,60], which posits that individuals acquire behaviors through observing respected role models. Employees who internalize these leadership behaviors are more likely to develop communication skills that support knowledge sharing, environmental advocacy, and coordinated action, all of which are crucial for performance in sustainability-focused and high-stakes environments like healthcare [10].

As communication competence increases, it catalyzes work engagement, a motivational state marked by vigor, dedication, and absorption [69,75]. Employees who are competent communicators often report greater confidence, role clarity, and purpose, enabling deeper involvement in their work. When communication aligns with ethical and environmental values, engagement is not only intensified but also infused with sustainable meaning, reflecting a shared organizational commitment to ecological well-being [50].

According to the JD–R model, both communication competence and work engagement act as job resources that buffer psychological strain and enhance performance [37,69]. ESEL indirectly nurtures engagement by first building employees’ communication skills, which then foster motivational states conducive to sustained effort and job success. Thus, this study argues that the positive influence of ESEL on job performance unfolds sequentially through these two mechanisms: communication competence first, followed by heightened work engagement. This leads to the following hypothesis:

H4. 

Communication competence and work engagement sequentially mediate the relationship between environmentally specific ethical leadership and employee job performance.

2.7. Moderating Role of Emotional Regulation

Emotional regulation refers to individuals’ capacity to monitor, evaluate, and modulate emotional responses in ways that support psychological resilience and goal-directed behavior [87]. This self-regulatory capacity plays a pivotal role in high-pressure and emotionally demanding environments such as healthcare, where employees frequently confront ethical dilemmas, patient suffering, and intense interpersonal interactions [12,88]. In the context of ESEL, emotional regulation becomes even more critical, as it determines how employees interpret and enact leaders’ value-driven messages about sustainability, fairness, and social responsibility.

According to Social Learning Theory, employees learn emotional and behavioral responses through observing the actions of credible role models, such as ethical leaders [23]. Leaders who demonstrate emotional stability, empathy, and composure not only shape the moral tone of the organization but also set the standard for how to manage emotional challenges in ethically and environmentally complex situations [89]. Employees with strong emotional regulation are more likely to internalize ESEL cues, adopt pro-environmental communication styles, and maintain focus even in emotionally taxing circumstances. Conversely, employees with low emotional regulation may struggle to translate ethical leadership into effective communication or engagement, especially under stress [90].

Moreover, emotional regulation enhances the motivational power of ESEL by enabling employees to process leadership messages constructively [91,92,93,94]. When emotional regulation is high, employees can better align themselves with the sustainability-oriented values championed by their leaders and are more likely to display vigor, dedication, and resilience at work [95]. This is particularly important in green transitions, where emotional ambivalence, eco-fatigue, or resistance to change may undermine engagement.

From the lens of the JD–R model, emotional regulation functions as a personal resource that complements job resources such as ethical leadership [34,75]. In emotionally intense contexts like healthcare, where employees face high job demands, ESEL provides meaning, moral clarity, and ethical alignment, while emotional regulation enables employees to convert these resources into action [96]. High emotional regulation allows employees to maintain equilibrium and channel value-based leadership into enhanced communication competence, stronger work engagement, and improved job performance [97,98].

Taken together, emotional regulation acts as a boundary condition that determines the degree to which employees can capitalize on ESEL. It functions not only as a coping mechanism but also as a catalyst for translating leadership behavior into performance-enhancing outcomes aligned with sustainability goals (Figure 2). Building on this rationale, we formulate the following moderation hypotheses:

H5. 

Emotional regulation moderates the positive relationship between environmentally specific ethical leadership and communication competence, such that the relationship is stronger when emotional regulation is high.

H6. 

Emotional regulation moderates the positive relationship between environmentally specific ethical leadership and work engagement, such that the relationship is stronger when emotional regulation is high.

H7. 

Emotional regulation moderates the positive relationship between environmentally specific ethical leadership and employee job performance, such that the relationship is stronger when emotional regulation is high.

3. Research Methodology

3.1. Jordanian Healthcare Context and Alignment with SDGs

Jordan’s public healthcare system provides a compelling context for investigating ESEL, particularly in the face of rising environmental pressures, resource constraints, and global sustainability agendas [4]. The sector is characterized by a mixed service delivery model, including the Ministry of Health (MOH), Royal Medical Services (RMS), and university hospitals, serving nearly two-thirds (64.3%) of the population with relatively limited resources, allocating 6.4% of GDP to healthcare [99]. Despite its modest economic standing (GDP per capita: USD 4255), Jordan has developed a reputation for providing regionally advanced healthcare services, particularly in the treatment of chronic diseases and refugee health management [100].

The country’s healthcare institutions are now undergoing a green transition, increasingly adopting eco-conscious policies such as waste reduction, energy conservation, and sustainability-oriented HRM practices [101,102]. These institutional shifts align with global sustainability frameworks, particularly the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Most relevant are SDG 3 (Good Health and Well-Being), which emphasizes resilient health systems and workforce well-being, SDG 12 (Responsible Consumption and Production), which calls for more sustainable management of healthcare resources, and SDG 13 (Climate Action), which encourages climate-responsive policies across sectors [56]. By focusing on ethical leadership as a green HRM mechanism, this study contributes to understanding how public healthcare systems in emerging economies can simultaneously achieve social, environmental, and institutional performance goals [15].

Table 2. Contextual overview: Jordan’s healthcare system and SDG 3 alignment.

Indicator	Value (Jordan)	SDG 3 Alignment Target
GDP per capita	USD 4255	Health financing (Target 3.c)
Health expenditure (% of GDP)	6.4%	Universal health coverage (Target 3.8)
Public healthcare coverage	64.3%	Expand access and financial protection (Target 3.8)
Doctors per 100,000 population	317	Address healthcare workforce needs (Target 3.c)
Infant mortality	12.8 per 1000	Child survival (Target 3.2)
Maternal mortality	19 per 100,000	Maternal health (Target 3.1)
Hospitals used in this study	15 Government Hospitals	Institutional infrastructure for health system development
Refugee population strain	>3 million (26% of population)	Health services for vulnerable groups (Targets 3.3, 3.d)
Life expectancy (male/female)	77/78.8 years	Increase healthy life expectancy (Target 3.4)

Sources(s): World Health Organization [41], World Bank [42], UNSDF [103].

summarizes key structural indicators of the Jordanian healthcare system, contextualizing its relevance for sustainability-driven leadership research.

3.2. Sample and Procedure

This study employed a dyadic, multi-source design to improve construct validity and minimize common method bias, an approach strongly recommended in leadership and organizational behavior research [104,105,106]. Data were collected from 384 matched employee–supervisor dyads across 15 public hospitals in Jordan, selected through stratified purposive sampling based on hospital size, geographic location, and clinical specialization. This sampling strategy ensured coverage of different hospital tiers, including tertiary, secondary, and general hospitals, thereby enhancing the ecological validity and generalizability of findings [107]. The sample comprised 48% nurses, 32% physicians, and 20% administrative personnel, reflecting the multi-professional structure typical of healthcare institutions. This heterogeneous composition aligns with recent calls to examine leadership processes across diverse occupational groups within public health systems [4,20].

Data collection followed a two-wave, time-lagged design using secure online surveys. In the first wave, employees rated their supervisors’ ESEL, along with their own communication competence, emotional regulation, and work engagement. In the second wave, supervisors evaluated the job performance of their respective subordinates. This temporal separation and cross-source reporting mitigate the risk of common method variance while preserving the theoretical interdependencies between constructs [104,108,109]. Institutional HR departments approved and facilitated the study by distributing survey links and coordinating dyads, without engaging in data collection or evaluation, thus ensuring procedural fairness and participant autonomy. All respondents had a minimum tenure of one year and routine supervisory interaction, criteria established to enhance familiarity and accuracy in evaluations. Data were collected via hospital-hosted digital platforms, with anonymity maintained and informed e-consent secured from all participants. Ethical clearance was obtained from the University of Mediterranean Karpasia Institutional Review Board (IRB).

3.3. Measures

To ensure the validity and reliability of the measurement instrument, this study utilized well-established scales from the leadership and organizational behavior literature, adapted to the context of environmentally specific ethical leadership in healthcare. The survey instrument comprised five main sections: (1) demographic information (e.g., age, gender, tenure, position); (2) ESEL; (3) communication competence; (4) work engagement; (5) emotional regulation. Supervisors received a separate but linked survey focusing solely on employee job performance. Given the Arabic-speaking setting, a back-translation method was applied to translate all items from English to Arabic, ensuring conceptual consistency across languages [110]. A bilingual expert panel reviewed initial translations for cultural and semantic equivalence before pilot testing. Content validity was further strengthened through a pilot test involving 20 employees and five supervisors from Jordanian public healthcare organizations, whose feedback led to improved item clarity [111]. A two-round pretest followed, and minor adjustments were made to refine the final survey. All multi-item constructs were measured using 7-point Likert-type scales, which are recognized for capturing nuanced variations in attitudes and reducing response bias.

3.3.1. Independent Variables

ESEL was measured using the 10-item Ethical Leadership Scale developed by Brown et al. [22], contextualized to reflect environmental responsibility [1]. The scale demonstrated excellent internal consistency (Cronbach’s α = 0.94), exceeding the commonly accepted threshold of 0.70 for research reliability [112]. This adaptation captures the growing emphasis on sustainability-oriented leadership in public service settings.

Communication competence was assessed via a 12-item scale adapted from Monge et al. [30], capturing two dimensions—encoding (seven items; Cronbach’s α = 0.91) and decoding (five items; Cronbach’s α = 0.90)—which reflect expressive and interpretive communication behaviors. This measure aligns with prior studies that link communication competence to ethical and effective leadership [82,83,84].

Work engagement was measured using the 9-item Utrecht Work Engagement Scale [74]. Although the original scale distinguishes between vigor, dedication, and absorption, exploratory factor analysis supported a unidimensional structure in this study (Cronbach’s α = 0.89), consistent with recent literature [69,113].

Emotional regulation was measured using the 10-item Emotion Regulation Scale by Gross and John [87], capturing both cognitive reappraisal (six items; Cronbach’s α = 0.94) and expressive suppression (four items; Cronbach’s α = 0.81), reflecting distinct but complementary strategies for emotional control [91,92,93,94].

3.3.2. Dependent Variable

Employee job performance was rated by supervisors using the 7-item in-role performance scale developed by Williams and Anderson [114]. The reliability coefficient was excellent (Cronbach’s α = 0.93), surpassing the benchmark for strong internal consistency [112]. The scale’s reliability and unidimensionality were reaffirmed via factor analysis, supporting its widespread use in performance evaluations [51,61,115,116].

3.3.3. Control Variables

The analysis controlled for gender (0 = male, 1 = female), age, and tenure, given their established effects on performance ratings. Previous studies indicate that female employees may be perceived more favorably in performance evaluations [117,118], while older workers may face negative performance assumptions [119]. Controlling for these variables helps isolate the effects of ethical leadership and psychological mechanisms on performance outcomes [109,120]. These demographic variables were collected in the first section of the employee questionnaire and cross-validated with HR records to ensure accuracy.

3.4. Validity of Measures

To ensure the validity of constructs and minimize common method variance (CMV), this study implemented a combination of procedural and statistical controls consistent with best practices in leadership and organizational research [106]. First, a dyadic data collection strategy was employed, whereby employees assessed independent variables (e.g., environmentally specific ethical leadership, communication competence, and work engagement), while supervisors independently rated employee job performance, an approach shown to reduce same-source bias and inflate validity [104]. To further mitigate social desirability effects, the survey guaranteed anonymity and confidentiality, which enhances response honesty, especially in studies involving ethical behavior [121,122]. In addition, all measures were subjected to rigorous pre-testing and back-translation procedures to ensure conceptual and linguistic clarity in the Arabic context [110]. Procedural remedies included counterbalancing the order of construct presentation and isolating item blocks by construct to reduce consistency artifacts and response fatigue [123]. These steps collectively enhanced construct validity and minimized the likelihood of artifactual correlations, thus strengthening the robustness of this study’s findings within the context of ethical and sustainable leadership in healthcare settings.

4. Results

4.1. Data Analysis

To test the research model, this study employed Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM), a robust causal-predictive technique widely used in leadership research involving dyadic investigations [124,125,126]. PLS-SEM was chosen over covariance-based structural equation modeling (CB-SEM) due to its ability to estimate complex models with higher-order constructs, particularly those incorporating mediation and moderation effects [127,128]. Although PLS-SEM is often associated with small sample sizes, recent studies confirm its reliability even with large datasets, making it a suitable method for leadership and management research [129]. This technique has been extensively applied in empirical studies across organizational behavior and leadership domains, reinforcing its credibility for examining structural relationships.

The data analysis followed the recommended two-stage analytical procedure of PLS-SEM: measurement model evaluation and structural model assessment [130]. In the first stage, the measurement model was tested for construct reliability and validity using factor loadings, composite reliability, and average variance extracted. In the second stage, the structural model was analyzed to assess the hypothesized relationships between independent and dependent variables. The PLS algorithm was applied to examine the quality of the outer model, while bootstrapping with 5000 subsamples ensured the statistical significance of path coefficients and loadings [128,129]. Additionally, SPSS version 25.0 was utilized to analyze the demographic characteristics and descriptive statistics of the sample. Given that PLS-SEM does not require normality assumptions, SmartPLS 4.1.0.9 provided a robust analytical framework for evaluating the study’s theoretical model.

4.2. Respondents’ Profile

The demographic characteristics of the respondents, as presented in

Table 3. Profile of respondents.

Category		Frequency	Percentage (%)
Gender	Male	91	23.7
	Female	293	76.3
Age (years)	<25	36	9.4
	26–35	183	47.7
	36–45	91	23.7
	46–55	71	18.5
	≥56	3	0.8
Educational level	High school degree	23	6.0
	Associate degree	110	28.6
	Undergraduate degree	186	48.4
	Postgraduate degree	65	16.9
Work experience (years)	<2	96	25.0
	2-less than 5	191	49.7
	5-less than 10	55	14.3
	>10	42	10.9
Position	Nurses	201	52.3
	Physicians	134	34.9
	Administrative staff	49	12.8
Total		384	100%

Note(s): An associate degree is a 2-year post-secondary vocational degree. Source(s): Authors’ elaboration based on survey data.

, provide essential context for understanding the study’s findings. The final sample consisted of 384 respondents, with a higher proportion of females (76.3%) than males (23.7%), reflecting gender dynamics commonly observed in leadership and organizational behavior studies [131]. In terms of age, the majority of respondents (47.7%) were between 26 and 35 years old, followed by 23.7% in the 36–45 age group, indicating a predominance of early-to-mid-career professionals, which aligns with research suggesting that career stage influences leadership perceptions and behaviors [117]. Educational attainment varied, with 48.4% holding undergraduate degrees and 16.9% possessing postgraduate qualifications, reinforcing the role of education in shaping leadership development and workplace engagement [132]. Organizational tenure was also diverse, with nearly half (48.2%) of respondents having between two and five years of experience, a tenure range associated with critical leadership learning and adaptation [133]. These demographic insights help contextualize the study’s results, offering a nuanced understanding of the workforce composition and its implications for leadership research.

4.3. Assessment of the Measurement Model

To ensure the reliability and validity of the measurement model, several statistical assessments were conducted. Internal consistency reliability was evaluated using Cronbach’s alpha (CA) and composite reliability (CR), both of which exceeded the recommended threshold of 0.70, indicating satisfactory reliability across constructs [130,134]. As reported in

Table 4. Reliability and validity assessment of measurement model.

Construct	Items	Outer Loadings	VIF	CA	CR	AVE
Environmentally Specific Ethical Leadership (ESEL)				0.910	0.933	0.582
	ESEL1	0.785	1.672
	ESEL2	0.771	2.271
	ESEL3	0.748	2.045
	ESEL4	0.793	2.393
	ESEL5	0.782	2.267
	ESEL6	0.779	2.664
	ESEL7	0.783	2.461
	ESEL8	0.807	2.873
	ESEL9	0.720	2.064
	ESEL10	0.752	2.130
Communication Competence (CC)				0.939	0.947	0.599
Encoding Factor	CC1	0.816	2.769	0.903	0.915	0.659
	CC2	0.848	2.414
	CC3	0.832	2.174
	CC4	0.837	2.426
	CC5	0.780	2.803
	CC6	0.817	2.278
	CC7	0.746	2.173
Decoding Factor	CC8	0.815	2.083	0.891	0.906	0.718
	CC9	0.758	2.271
	CC10	0.876	2.797
	CC11	0.901	2.719
	CC12	0.878	2.852
Work Engagement (WE)				0.892	0.914	0.547
	WE1	0.768	1.732
	WE2	0.707	2.203
	WE3	0.742	1.651
	WE4	0.767	1.440
	WE5	0.818	2.819
	WE6	0.743	2.039
	WE7	0.851	2.252
	WE8	0.858	2.642
	WE9	0.816	2.560
Employee Job Performance (EJP)				0.912	0.934	0.724
	EJP1	0.751	1.261
	EJP2	0.886	2.537
	EJP3	0.895	2.555
	EJP4	0.910	2.607
	EJP5	0.918	2.778
	EJP6	0.855	2.475
	EJP7	0.879	2.941
Emotional Regulation (ER)				0.913	0.936	0.631
Reappraisal Factor	ER1	0.847	1.326	0.909	0.920	0.767
	ER2	0.914	1.544
	ER3	0.897	2.158
	ER4	0.912	2.349
	ER5	0.835	2.512
	ER6	0.846	2.752
Suppression Factor	ER7	0.778	1.926	0.817	0.880	0.650
	ER8	0.841	1.720
	ER9	0.883	2.932
	ER10	0.809	2.658

Note(s): variance inflation factor (VIF), Cronbach’s alpha (CA), composite reliability (CR), average variance extracted (AVE). Source(s): Authors’ elaboration based on survey data.

, the average variance extracted (AVE) values surpassed 0.50, confirming convergent validity [135]. Additionally, all outer loadings were above 0.70, further reinforcing the convergent validity of the constructs [129].

To assess discriminant validity, two established criteria were applied: the Fornell and Larcker criterion [135] and the heterotrait-monotrait (HTMT) ratio of correlations [136]. As shown in

Table 5. Discriminant validity.

Constructs	DF	EF	ESEL	EJP	RF	SF	WE
Heterotrait–Monotrait ratio (HTMT)
DF
EF	0.822
ESEL	0.529	0.590
EJP	0.588	0.670	0.592
RF	0.587	0.647	0.694	0.603
SF	0.587	0.683	0.687	0.557	0.831
WE	0.756	0.840	0.716	0.772	0.783	0.818
Fornell–Larcker criterion
DF	0.847
EF	0.750	0.812
ESEL	0.495	0.548	0.763
EJP	0.541	0.616	0.557	0.851
RF	0.540	0.599	0.652	0.563	0.876
SF	0.504	0.580	0.602	0.481	0.728	0.806
WE	0.690	0.765	0.659	0.714	0.723	0.686	0.740

Note(s): decoding factor (DF), encoding factor (EF), environmentally specific ethical leadership (ESEL), employee job performance (EJP), reappraisal factor (RF), suppression factor (SF), work engagement (WE). Source(s): Authors’ elaboration based on survey data.

, the square root of AVE for each construct was higher than its correlations with other constructs, satisfying the Fornell and Larcker criterion [135]. Moreover, all HTMT values remained below the 0.90 threshold, confirming adequate discriminant validity [130,136]. These results collectively demonstrate that the reflective measurement model is both reliable and valid, ensuring the robustness of the constructs for further structural analysis.

4.4. Assessment of Higher-Order Constructs

The assessment of higher-order constructs (HOCs) was conducted using a disjoint two-stage approach [128] to validate the constructs of communication competence and emotional regulation, each comprising two lower-order constructs (LOCs). Communication competence was measured through encoding and decoding [30], while emotional regulation included reappraisal and suppression [87]. The multicollinearity was not a concern, as all outer variance inflation factor (VIF) values were below 3.3 [130]. As shown in

Table 6. Assessment of HOCs.

HOC	LOC	Outer Loadings	Outer VIF	t-Value	p-Value
Communication Competence	Encoding	0.636	2.993	17.308	0.001
	Decoding	0.404	2.836	10.755	0.001
Emotional Regulation	Reappraisal	0.581	2.128	16.511	0.001
	Suppression	0.480	2.815	12.249	0.001

Source(s): Authors’ elaboration based on survey data.

, all outer loadings were statistically significant (p = 0.001), confirming that the HOCs were appropriately formed by their respective LOCs [137,138]. These findings establish the validity and reliability of the measurement model, ensuring its suitability for subsequent structural model evaluation.

4.5. Assessment of the Structural Model

Before assessing the structural model, multicollinearity was examined, and as shown in

Table 7. Results of hypothesis testing.

Relationships	Sample Estimate	Standard Error	T-Statistics	p-Values	R2	VIF	Decision
Direct effect
ESEL → EJP	0.149	0.041	3.627	0.000	0.582	2.309	H1: Supported
ESEL → CC	0.230	0.045	5.110	0.000	0.545	2.087
ESEL → WE	0.129	0.029	4.462	0.000	0.790	2.233
CC → WE	0.426	0.031	13.817	0.000		2.297
CC → EJP	0.186	0.059	3.163	0.002		3.171
WE → EJP	0.518	0.057	9.080	0.000		2.449
Indirect effect
ESEL → CC → EJP	0.043	0.014	3.148	0.002			H2: Supported
ESEL → WE → EJP	0.067	0.017	4.014	0.000			H3: Supported
Serial mediation
ESEL → CC → WE → EJP	0.051	0.013	3.719	0.000			H4: Supported
Control variables
Gender → EJP	0.076	0.063	1.212	0.226		1.023	NS
Age → EJP	0.021	0.043	0.483	0.629		2.576	NS
Experience → EJP	−0.017	0.041	0.401	0.688		2.610	NS

Note(s): environmentally specific ethical leadership (ESEL), employee job performance (EJP), communication competence (CC), work engagement (WE), non-significant (NS). Source(s): Authors’ elaboration based on survey data.

, all variance inflation factor (VIF) values were below the threshold of 5, indicating that multicollinearity was not a concern [130]. To evaluate the hypothesized relationships, bootstrapping with 5000 resamples was performed, ensuring robust statistical inference [139].

As shown in Table 7, the results provide strong empirical support for the hypothesized relationships. ESEL demonstrated a significant direct effect on employee job performance (H1: β = 0.149, p < 0.001), confirming its role in shaping performance through value-driven leadership behaviors. In line with expectations, environmentally ethical leaders significantly enhanced employees’ communication competence (β = 0.230, p < 0.001) and work engagement (β = 0.129, p < 0.001), reinforcing their capacity to foster relational and motivational workplace resources aligned with sustainability values. Communication competence significantly predicted work engagement (β = 0.426, p < 0.001) and directly improved employee job performance (β = 0.186, p < 0.010), while work engagement emerged as a particularly strong predictor of performance (β = 0.518, p < 0.001). These findings support the view that leadership rooted in environmental ethics fosters both interpersonal capabilities and psychological energy critical to workplace effectiveness.

The mediation analysis further confirmed these mechanisms. Communication competence partially mediated the relationship between ESEL and job performance (H2: β = 0.043, p < 0.01), indicating that ethical leaders enhance employee performance by improving their ability to communicate effectively in ethically complex settings. Likewise, work engagement served as a mediator (H3: β = 0.067, p < 0.001), highlighting how leadership rooted in green ethics cultivates engagement that translates into tangible performance outcomes. Notably, a sequential mediation pathway was observed, where communication competence and work engagement jointly mediated the relationship between ESEL and job performance (H4: β = 0.051, p < 0.001). This underscores the dynamic interplay between relational and motivational resources in transmitting the influence of ethical leadership on sustainability-oriented workplace outcomes. Control variables such as gender, age, and work experience had no significant impact, emphasizing the robustness of the leadership-driven effects.

4.6. Assessment of the Moderation Effect

To assess the boundary conditions of ESEL, this study examined the moderating role of emotional regulation in its relationships with communication competence, work engagement, and employee job performance. The analysis was conducted using the product indicator approach within the PLS-SEM framework [140,141]. As shown in

Table 8. Moderation analysis results.

Hypothesized Relationships	Sample Estimate	Standard Error	T-Statistics	p-Values	CIs		Decision
					2.5%	97.5%
Interaction effect
ESEL × ER → CC	−0.116	0.018	6.389	0.000	−0.151	−0.078	H5 Not Supported
ESEL × ER → WE	0.091	0.024	3.818	0.000	0.043	0.136	H6 Supported
ESEL × ER → EJP	0.052	0.013	4.031	0.000	0.028	0.078	H7 Supported

Note(s): environmentally specific ethical leadership (ESEL), employee job performance (EJP), communication competence (CC), work engagement (WE), emotional regulation (ER), confidence intervals (CIs). Source(s): Authors’ elaboration based on survey data.

, the results revealed nuanced patterns of moderation, reflecting the complex interplay between emotional self-regulation and sustainability-driven leadership processes.

Contrary to expectations, H5 was not supported. Emotional regulation exerted a negative moderating effect on the relationship between ESEL and communication competence (β = −0.116, p < 0.001). This finding suggests that employees who exert higher emotional regulation, particularly through suppression strategies, may become less emotionally expressive and, therefore, less responsive to ethical communication modeled by leaders. As emotional regulation suppresses outward displays of affect, it may inhibit the reciprocal and relational dynamics needed for effective communication development [87,142]. This aligns with prior studies indicating that excessive emotional control can restrict feedback exchange and undermine relational learning processes [143,144]. Thus, in emotionally restrained environments, even ethically driven leadership may not sufficiently activate communication-related behaviors. As depicted in Figure 3, the slope representing the relationship between ESEL and communication competence flattens under conditions of high emotional regulation, reflecting diminished sensitivity to leader-modeled communicative cues.

In contrast, H6 and H7 were fully supported. Emotional regulation positively moderated the effects of ESEL on both work engagement (β = 0.091, p < 0.001) and employee job performance (β = 0.052, p < 0.001). These findings indicate that employees with higher emotional regulation are more capable of channeling the motivational signals embedded in ethical leadership toward sustainable work behavior and performance. Reappraisal-based strategies, often associated with emotional regulation, may enable individuals to reinterpret leadership cues as personally meaningful, leading to deeper engagement and output. As illustrated in Figure 4 and Figure 5, the positive effects of green ethical leadership on engagement and performance are significantly amplified when employees can regulate their emotions effectively.

These results underscore the dual role of emotional regulation: while it may dampen interpersonal receptivity in communication contexts, it strengthens individuals’ capacity to engage meaningfully and perform optimally in value-driven work environments. This complexity reinforces the importance of examining personal traits as moderators within sustainability leadership frameworks, especially in emotionally demanding sectors such as healthcare.

4.7. Explanatory Power

The explanatory power of the model was assessed using R² values, which measure the proportion of variance explained by predictor variables. In social science research, particularly in studies examining employee behaviors and attitudes, an R² threshold of approximately 0.200 is recommended for establishing meaningful relationships [129,145]. As presented in Table 7, the R² values for all dependent variables exceeded this threshold, indicating strong model explanatory power. Specifically, communication competence had an R² of 0.545, suggesting that 54.5% of its variance was explained by the model. Similarly, employee job performance exhibited an R² of 0.582, while work engagement demonstrated the highest explanatory power with an R² of 0.790, meaning that 79.0% of its variance was accounted for by the model. These findings reinforce the robustness of the proposed framework in capturing the impact of ESEL on employee outcomes through key mediators, thereby providing strong empirical support for the theoretical model.

5. Discussion and Implications

5.1. Discussion of Findings

This study provides empirical support for the role of ESEL in enhancing employee job performance, particularly through the mechanisms of communication competence and work engagement. Rooted in the growing field of sustainable and responsible leadership, the findings underscore that leaders who integrate environmental values with ethical behavior foster a workplace climate characterized by moral clarity, open communication, and psychological safety. In high-stakes environments such as healthcare, where ethical norms and environmental accountability increasingly intersect, such leadership is critical for cultivating sustainable employee performance.

First, the direct relationship between green ethical leadership and job performance was confirmed. Leaders who act ethically with a clear concern for environmental well-being serve as moral role models, reinforcing pro-social and sustainability-aligned behaviors [4,80]. This finding reinforces previous research indicating that ethical leadership, when aligned with ecological values, translates into stronger employee identification with organizational goals, leading to higher levels of in-role performance [51,61,66].

Second, the mediation effect of communication competence highlights the importance of ethical leaders in creating open, respectful, and transparent channels for dialogue, conditions that are essential in promoting sustainable practices and team cohesion [70,86]. Leaders who communicate environmental ethics clearly and consistently foster trust and enable employees to express ideas, raise concerns, and collaborate effectively, which in turn improves job performance [73].

Third, the findings validate the mediating role of work engagement in the ethical leadership–performance relationship. Ethical leaders who emphasize environmental purpose alongside fairness and support help cultivate dedication, vigor, and absorption, hallmarks of work engagement [79,81]. Within the JD–R model, green ethical leadership serves as a crucial job resource that energizes employees and enhances their task-focused motivation [75].

Notably, the sequential mediation findings confirm that communication competence precedes engagement in explaining how green ethical leadership enhances performance. This reflects a cascading pathway, wherein effective communication serves as a foundation for sustained engagement, which ultimately translates into improved performance [69,85]. In sustainability-sensitive contexts such as healthcare, where coordination and ethical action are paramount, this sequential process highlights how leadership shapes performance through both cognitive and motivational channels.

Finally, emotional regulation emerged as a critical moderator. Employees with higher emotional regulation were more adept at channeling environmentally ethical leadership into deeper engagement and performance, supporting prior work that identifies emotional competence as a necessary condition for behavioral adaptation under ethical leadership [77,97]. However, the negative moderating effect of emotional regulation on the relationship between green ethical leadership and communication competence presents an unexpected but meaningful deviation from theoretical expectations. One plausible explanation is the prevalence of emotional suppression strategies—common in high-pressure professions like nursing—which may constrain spontaneous communication, even when ethical leadership cues are present. In Arab cultures, including Jordan, emotional restraint is often socially valued, particularly in hierarchical or professional settings where deference to authority may limit open expression [146,147,148]. Under such cultural norms, emotional regulation may inadvertently inhibit relational openness and reduce the receptivity to leader communication, thereby dampening communication competence. Additionally, under stress conditions—typical of public hospitals—employees who regulate their emotions too stringently may lack the emotional bandwidth to engage deeply with leadership signals, prioritizing task survival over relational responsiveness [143,144].

This finding challenges the universal assumption that emotional regulation always facilitates leadership outcomes and underscores the need to differentiate between adaptive forms (e.g., cognitive reappraisal) and maladaptive forms (e.g., suppression). For emotionally demanding work contexts, future interventions should promote constructive emotion regulation strategies while recognizing their complex interaction with leadership communication dynamics [31].

In sum, this study enriches our understanding of how green ethical leadership enhances employee outcomes by activating communication competence, fostering engagement, and interacting with emotional self-regulation. These findings offer a compelling perspective on how sustainability-oriented leadership can cultivate a workforce that is both ethically grounded and behaviorally engaged, particularly within emotionally demanding sectors like healthcare.

5.2. Theoretical Implications

This study advances theoretical understanding by positioning ESEL as a critical antecedent of employee job performance, communication competence, and work engagement within sustainability-focused organizational contexts. First, the findings reaffirm the foundational assumptions of Social Learning Theory [22,23,24,60], illustrating that green ethical leaders serve as moral role models whose visible commitment to environmental responsibility and ethical behavior is emulated by employees. By modeling integrity, fairness, and eco-conscious values, such leaders foster a psychological climate conducive to responsible and high-performing work behavior [1,7,80]. This theoretical extension underscores that ethical leadership grounded in sustainability not only shapes moral conduct but also activates broader pro-environmental and task-related performance outcomes [53,77,149].

Second, this study introduces communication competence and work engagement as sequential mediators in the ESEL–performance relationship. This dual-pathway mechanism contributes to the literature on green leadership by revealing how environmental ethics influence not only employee behavior but also interpersonal and motivational processes. Communication competence—anchored in awareness, responsiveness, and interpersonal clarity—allows employees to effectively internalize and express eco-ethical norms [69,70,81,86]. This competence then cultivates work engagement, marked by vigor and purpose, which serves as a psychological engine for sustainable job performance [75,79]. Together, these mediators provide a more nuanced theoretical account of how environmentally grounded leadership mobilizes employee effectiveness through behavioral and motivational channels.

Third, the study advances theory by identifying emotional regulation as a key moderator in the ESEL-performance pathway. While much of the ethical leadership literature has focused on leader traits or direct effects, this research highlights the role of follower emotional capabilities in shaping how ethical messages are received and acted upon [37,77,98]. Employees with high emotional regulation are better equipped to translate environmental and ethical cues into adaptive engagement and performance behaviors, especially in emotionally charged environments like healthcare. Conversely, excessive emotional suppression may impede open communication, offering a dual-role perspective that enriches current theorizing on the boundary conditions of ethical and sustainable leadership.

Finally, by situating the study within public healthcare institutions, this research contributes to contextualized leadership theory, emphasizing the salience of green ethical leadership in high-stakes, ethically sensitive, and sustainability-driven settings. Healthcare professionals operate under dual pressures of ethical conduct and environmental accountability, making the role of leadership in reinforcing green values especially critical [4,5,150]. This contextual insight advances theory by asserting that ESEL must be understood within sector-specific dynamics, where environmental ethics intersect with moral responsibility and employee well-being.

5.3. Practical Implications

This study provides several actionable insights for fostering environmentally responsible leadership and sustainable employee performance, particularly in high-stakes sectors such as healthcare. First, the findings highlight the importance of developing ESEL capabilities through structured leadership development programs. Leaders who model environmental integrity, fairness, and pro-social values play a crucial role in shaping ethical climates that enhance communication, engagement, and job performance. However, many leadership programs fail to integrate environmental responsibility into ethical training. Organizations should revise their leadership curricula to embed green ethics—emphasizing ecological stewardship, intergenerational justice, and sustainable decision-making—within the broader framework of ethical conduct [80,124]. This approach ensures that sustainability is not an afterthought but a core dimension of leadership effectiveness in organizational development.

Second, this study underscores the need for emotional regulation interventions as a support mechanism that enhances the effectiveness of green ethical leadership. In emotionally demanding environments like healthcare, the ability to manage stress and maintain composure is essential for both leaders and employees. As Atta et al. [151] emphasize, emotional regulation training improves individuals’ capacity to cope with workplace stressors, thereby enhancing resilience, ethical sensitivity, and engagement. Healthcare institutions should integrate emotional regulation skills into both leadership development and staff wellness programs, enabling employees to respond constructively to sustainability demands and ethical challenges. Regular assessments of emotional well-being can help tailor interventions to individual needs and reduce burnout, thereby contributing to more stable and ethically grounded work environments.

Furthermore, organizations can create peer-led support groups and green ethics forums that facilitate open dialogue on environmental values and emotional challenges in the workplace. These platforms not only cultivate psychological safety but also reinforce a collective commitment to sustainability and ethical integrity. By fostering emotionally intelligent, environmentally responsible leaders, organizations create a ripple effect that enhances team cohesion, ecological awareness, and operational excellence. Ultimately, embedding green ethics and emotional regulation into the cultural fabric of healthcare organizations can transform sustainability from a compliance mandate into a lived organizational value, ensuring long-term employee well-being, performance, and environmental impact.

5.4. Limitations and Future Research Directions

This study offers meaningful contributions, yet several limitations warrant attention. First, the cross-sectional nature of the design constrains causal inference, as relationships among ESEL, communication competence, engagement, and performance were measured at a single time point. Future studies could employ longitudinal or experimental designs to better assess the temporal and causal sequencing of these variables. While anonymity was maintained to ensure ethical integrity in studying green leadership behaviors, it precluded longitudinal tracking, which future research should adopt to enhance causal clarity. Second, the use of self-report surveys may have introduced common method variance and social desirability bias. Although matched dyads were used to mitigate this concern, future research should expand the use of multi-source evaluations, such as peer or supervisor assessments, to enhance data validity. Moreover, although this study focused on healthcare settings, future studies should replicate the model in diverse sectors—particularly in industries undergoing green transitions such as manufacturing, logistics, or education—and across cultural contexts to assess the generalizability and robustness of the findings. Third, cultural context presents an important boundary condition. Given the hierarchical and collectivist nature of Arab healthcare institutions, emotional regulation and interpretations of ethical leadership may be shaped by norms that prioritize emotional restraint and deference to authority, potentially explaining the observed negative moderation. Future research should explore these cultural dynamics more explicitly, comparing outcomes across national or sectoral boundaries. Further exploration of alternative mediators and moderators, such as psychological safety, ecological identity, or green organizational climate, would deepen understanding of the mechanisms through which green ethical leadership shapes sustainable employee behavior and performance. Expanding these investigations can enrich both leadership and sustainability research, especially in contexts where environmental values are central to organizational strategy.